Methods for forming interconnects in microelectronic workpieces and microelectronic workpieces formed using such methods

ABSTRACT

Methods for forming interconnects in microelectronic workpieces and microelectronic workpieces formed using such methods are disclosed herein. One embodiment, for example, is directed to a method of processing a microelectronic workpiece including a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of microelectronic dies. The method can include forming a first opening in the substrate from a back side of the substrate toward a front side and in alignment with terminals of the dies. The first opening separates an island of substrate material from the substrate. The method can also include depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening, and then removing the island of substrate material to form a second opening. In several embodiments, the method may include constructing an electrically conductive interconnect in at least a portion of the second opening and in electrical contact with the terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/020,656 filed Feb. 3, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,247,907, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/951,751 filed Dec. 6, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,015, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is related to methods for forming interconnects in microelectronic workpieces and microelectronic workpieces formed using such methods.

BACKGROUND

Microelectronic imagers are used in digital cameras, wireless devices with picture capabilities, and many other applications. Cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), for example, are incorporating microelectronic imagers for capturing and sending pictures. The growth rate of microelectronic imagers has been steadily increasing as they become smaller and produce better images with higher pixel counts.

Microelectronic imagers include image sensors that use Charged Coupled Device (CCD) systems, Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) systems, or other systems. CCD image sensors have been widely used in digital cameras and other applications. CMOS image sensors are also very popular because they are expected to have low production costs, high yields, and small sizes. CMOS image sensors can provide these advantages because they are manufactured using technology and equipment developed for fabricating semiconductor devices. CMOS image sensors, as well as CCD image sensors, are accordingly “packaged” to protect the delicate components and to provide external electrical contacts.

Many imaging devices include semiconductor dies having image sensors located on a front surface of the die to receive incoming radiation. The dies also include external contacts or terminals for electrically coupling the sensors to other circuit elements. In order to prevent the external contacts from interfering with the operation of the sensors or limiting the size and/or location of the sensors, the external contacts at the front surface can be electrically coupled to corresponding external contacts positioned on the opposite side of the die from the sensors (e.g., on the back surface of the die). Through-wafer interconnects (TWIs) are typically used to conduct electrical signals from the sensors, front side external contacts, and associated internal circuitry through the die to the external contacts at the back surface. The TWIs are typically formed by (a) making openings or holes in the die and aligned with the corresponding external contacts, (b) lining the sidewalls of the openings with a dielectric material, and (c) filling the openings with a conductor. Solder balls or other type of electrical couplers can then be attached to the back side external contacts and can be reflowed to couple the die to external devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a portion of a microelectronic workpiece configured in accordance with several embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-2H are schematic, side cross-sectional views illustrating various stages in a method for forming an electrically conductive interconnect structure for providing a back side array of contact pads in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3G are schematic, side cross-sectional views illustrating various stages in a method for forming an electrically conductive interconnect structure for providing a back side array of contact pads in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a system incorporating one or more microelectronic imagers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure describes several embodiments of methods for forming interconnects in microelectronic workpieces and microelectronic workpieces formed using such methods. Such interconnects electrically couple terminals or other conductive elements proximate to one side of the workpiece to conductive elements proximate to the other side of the workpiece. Specific details of several embodiments are described below with reference to CMOS image sensors to provide a thorough understanding of these embodiments, but other embodiments can use CCD image sensors or other types of solid-state imaging devices. In still further embodiments, aspects of the disclosure can be practiced in connection with devices that do not include image sensors. Such devices include SRAM, DRAM, Flash, and other devices. In particular embodiments, the devices can be stacked on each other, and the vias can provide electrical communication among the stacked devices.

As used herein, the terms “microelectronic workpiece” and “workpiece” refer to substrates on and/or in which microfeature electronic devices (including, but not limited to, image sensors) are integrally formed. A microelectronic workpiece can include a wafer and/or individual dies or combinations of dies that make up the wafer. Typical electronic devices formed on and/or in microelectronic workpieces include processors, memory, imagers, thin-film recording heads, data storage elements, and other products with integrated circuits. Micromachines and other micromechanical devices are included within this definition because they are manufactured using much of the same technology that is used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The substrates can be semi-conductive pieces (e.g., doped silicon wafers or gallium arsenide wafers), non-conductive pieces (e.g., various ceramic substrates), or conductive pieces. In some cases, the workpieces are generally round, and in other cases the workpieces can have other shapes, including rectilinear shapes. Several embodiments of methods for forming interconnects in connection with microelectronic workpiece fabrication are described below. A person skilled in the relevant art will understand, however, that the disclosure has additional embodiments, and that the disclosure may be practiced without several of the details of the embodiments described below with reference to FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a portion of a microelectronic workpiece 100 configured in accordance with several embodiments of the disclosure. The workpiece 100 can include a semiconductor substrate 101 with a plurality of dies 110 (e.g., imaging dies) formed in and/or on the substrate 101. The substrate 101 has a first or front side 102 and a second or back side 103. The substrate 101, for example, may be a semiconductor wafer with the dies 110 arranged in a die pattern on the wafer. A first dielectric layer 104 (e.g., a passivation layer or other insulating layer) can be located at the front side 102 to protect the underlying substrate 101. The first dielectric layer 104 can include silicon dioxide (SiO₂), silicon nitride (Si₃N₄), borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), borosilicate glass (BSG), or another suitable dielectric material.

Individual dies 110 can include integrated circuitry 112, external contacts 120 electrically coupled to the integrated circuitry 112 with couplers 122, and an image sensor 114. The image sensors 114 can be CMOS image sensors or CCD image sensors for capturing pictures or other images in the visible spectrum. In other embodiments, the image sensors 114 can detect radiation in other spectrums (e.g., IR or UV ranges). Although the illustrated dies 110 have the same structure, in other embodiments the dies 110 can have different features to perform different functions.

The external contacts 120 shown in FIG. 1 provide a small array of back side contacts within the footprint of each die 110. Each external contact 120, for example, can include a terminal or bond site 124 (e.g., a bond-pad), an external contact pad 126 (e.g., a ball-pad), and an interconnect 128 coupling the terminal 124 to the contact pad 126. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the terminals 124 are external features at the front side 102 of the substrate 101, the contact pads 126 are external features at the back side 103 of the substrate 101, and the interconnects 128 are through-substrate or through-wafer interconnects that extend completely through the substrate 101 to couple the terminals 124 to corresponding contact pads 126. In other embodiments, however, the terminals 124 can be internal features that are embedded at an intermediate depth within the substrate 101. In still other embodiments, the dies 110 may not include the terminals 124 at the front side 102 of the substrate 101 such that the integrated circuitry 112 is coupled directly to the contact pads 126 at the back side 103 of the substrate 101 by interconnects that extend only through a portion of the substrate 101. After forming the interconnects 128, the workpiece 100 can be cut along lines A-A to singulate the imaging dies 110.

In contrast with conventional dies that only include front side contacts, the interconnects 128 enable the external contact pads 126 to be located at the back side 103 of the substrate 101. The back side arrays of contact pads 126 allow the dies 110 to be stacked on other devices or attached directly to an interposer substrate without peripheral wire-bonds. The dies 110 with the interconnects 128 can be more robust than dies that require wire-bonds, and the individual dies 110 also have a significantly smaller footprint and profile than conventional dies having wire-bonds extending outboard of the periphery portions of the respective die. Accordingly, the resulting imaging devices can have a significantly smaller footprint and lower profile than conventional imagers that require large interposing structures, and can be used in smaller electronic devices or other applications where space is limited.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, formation of the interconnects 128 is complete. FIGS. 2A-3G described below illustrate various embodiments of methods for forming the interconnects 128 shown in FIG. 1. Although the following description illustrates formation of only a single interconnect, it will be appreciated that a plurality of interconnects are constructed simultaneously through a plurality of imaging dies on a wafer.

FIGS. 2A-2H illustrate various stages of a method for forming one embodiment of the interconnects 128 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2A, more specifically, is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the area 2A shown in FIG. 1 at an initial stage of this process. In previous processing steps, the front side 102 of the substrate 101 was attached to a support member 132 (e.g., a carrier substrate) with an adhesive material 134. The support member 132 (only a portion of which is shown) can be sized and shaped to receive the workpiece 100 and provide support to the workpiece during subsequent processing steps to prevent the workpiece from breaking and/or excessively warping. In one embodiment, the support member 132 is generally rigid and has a planform shape at least approximately identical to that of the workpiece 100. In other embodiments, however, the support member 132 can have a different planform shape than the workpiece 100. The support member 132 can include a glass substrate, a silicon substrate, or a substrate formed from another suitable material.

After attaching the workpiece 100 to the support member 132, the substrate 101 is thinned to a desired thickness “T” by removing material from the back side 103 of the substrate 101. In the illustrated embodiment, for example, the final thickness T of the substrate 101 is about 100-150 microns. In other embodiments, however, the substrate 101 can have a different final thickness T. The thickness of the support member 132 and/or the adhesive layer 134 may also be adjusted so that the overall assembly has a desired thickness. For example, the support member 132 can have a thickness of about 600-650 microns so that the aggregate thickness of the assembly (about, for example, 700-750 μm) can be suitable for the form factor of typical semiconductor processing equipment used for subsequent processing of the workpiece 100. The back side 103 of the substrate 101 can be thinned using chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) processes, dry etching processes, chemical etching processes, chemical polishing, grinding procedures, or other suitable processes. The back side 103 of the substrate 101 can undergo further processing after thinning In one embodiment, for example, the back side 103 can be polished before any subsequent processing. This polishing step, however, is an optional step that may be omitted and/or performed at a different processing stage.

After thinning the substrate 101, a first mask 140 is applied over the back side 103 and patterned. The first mask 140 can be a layer of resist that is patterned according to the arrangement of terminals 122 at the front side 102 of the substrate 101. In the illustrated embodiment, for example, the first mask 140 is aligned with a corresponding terminal 124. The individual mask portions can remain on the workpiece 100 during a number of processing steps. Accordingly, the portions of the first mask 140 at the back side 103 of the substrate 101 can be “overbaked” to harden the mask portions so that they do not easily wash away or become damaged during subsequent processing steps.

Referring next to FIG. 2B, the back side 103 of the substrate 101 is etched to an intermediate depth using a first etching process, such as an anisotropic etch, to form a pillar 142. In an anisotropic etching process, for example, the etchant removes exposed material, but not material protected beneath the remaining portions of the mask 140. Accordingly, the sidewalls of the pillar 142 are generally normal to the front side 102 of the substrate 101. In other embodiments, however, other suitable etching processes may be used.

Referring to FIG. 2C, a second mask 144 is applied onto the back side 103 and patterned to form a first opening 146 around the pillar 142. FIG. 2D is a top plan view of the portion of the back side 103 of the substrate 101 shown in FIG. 2C. Referring to FIGS. 2C and 2D together, the second mask 144 is patterned such that the first opening 146 is (a) inboard of a periphery portion of the terminal 124, and (b) outboard of a periphery portion 143 of the pillar 142 to define an annulus 147. The annulus 147 is superimposed relative to the terminal 124 and has a first diameter or cross-sectional dimension less than a second diameter or cross-sectional dimension of the terminal 124. For purposes of this disclosure, an “annulus” or an opening have an “annular cross-sectional profile” refers to an opening or region between two generally concentric structures (e.g., a generally circular ring). In the illustrated embodiment, the annulus 147 has a width W₁ of about 15 microns. In other embodiments, however, the width W₁ of the annulus 147 can vary between about 1 micron and about 150 microns. The selected width W₁, for example, can be based at least in part on the arrangement or pitch of the terminals 124 and the composition of the dielectric or passivation material that is subsequently disposed onto an opening defined by the annulus 147 (as described in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 2F).

Referring next to FIG. 2E, the exposed portions of the substrate 101 within the annulus 147 (FIGS. 2C and 2D) are etched using a second etching process to form a second opening 150. The second opening 150 is a blind hole or via having a generally annular cross-sectional profile that extends from the back side 103 of the substrate 101 to expose at least a portion of the first dielectric layer 104. For purposes of this disclosure, a “blind hole” or a “blind via” refers to a hole or aperture that extends only partially through the substrate 101 or is otherwise closed at one end. The second opening 150 separates the pillar 142 from the other remaining portions of the substrate 101, thus forming an isolated island, core, or plug 151 of substrate material. The second etching process can include, for example, a deep reactive ion etching process or another suitable etching process that is highly selective to the material of the substrate 101 relative to the material of the first dielectric layer 104. The first dielectric layer 104 can accordingly act as an etch-stop for the second etching process. After forming the second opening 150, the first and second masks 140 and 144 (FIG. 2C) are removed from the workpiece 100. The first and second masks 140 and 144 can be removed, for example, using an oxygen plasma ashing process, a chemical stripper, or another suitable process.

Referring to FIG. 2F, an insulating material 152 is deposited into the second opening 150 and over the entire back side 103 of the substrate 101. The insulating layer 152 electrically insulates components in the substrate 101 from the interconnect that will be subsequently be formed through the substrate 101. In the illustrated embodiment, the insulating material 152 forms a continuous film or layer over the entire back side 103 of the substrate 101 and within the second opening 150, but does not cover or otherwise extend outwardly past an upper surface 154 of the island 151. In other embodiments, however, the insulating material 152 may not extend over the entire back side 103 of the substrate 101. The insulating material 152 can be composed of a polymer material, such as a filled epoxy material. The epoxy material is typically filled with very small beads or particles of materials (e.g., silica, etc.) to produce the desired CTE within the epoxy material that matches or at least approximates the CTE of the surrounding materials. In one embodiment, for example, the insulating material 152 can include Hysol® FP-4511, commercially available from Henkel Loctite Corporation of Industry, California. In other embodiments, however, the insulating material 152 can include other suitable materials.

Referring to FIG. 2G, a third etching process (e.g., a wet or dry etch) is used to remove the portions of the substrate that compose the island 151 (FIG. 2F) to define a blind hole or via 160. Referring next to FIG. 2H, a fourth etching process (e.g., a dry etch) is used to remove the exposed portions of the first dielectric layer 104 within the blind hole 160 and expose at least a portion of the terminal 124. The fourth etching process can be highly selective to the material of the first dielectric layer 104 relative to the material of the terminal 124. The fourth etching process accordingly does not damage or significantly alter the general structure of the terminal 124.

After exposing at least a portion of the terminal 124, the workpiece 100 can undergo further processing prior to singulating the individual imaging dies 110 (FIG. 1). For example, a seed layer (not shown) can be deposited into the blind hole 160 and over at least a portion of the insulating material 152 using a suitable vapor deposition technique, such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and/or plating. The seed layer can be composed of copper or other suitable materials. A conductive fill material 162 (shown in broken lines) can then be deposited into the blind hole 160 to form the interconnect 128. The fill material 162 can include Cu, Ni, Co, Ag, Au, solder, or other suitable materials or alloys of materials having the desired conductivity. The fill material 162 can be deposited into the blind hole 160 using plating processes (e.g., electroless or electroplating processes), solder wave processes, screen printing techniques, vapor deposition processes, or other suitable techniques. In some embodiments, the fill material 162 does not completely fill the blind hole 160. For example, in one embodiment the fill material 162 may only line the sidewalls of the blind hole 160, thus leaving a portion of the blind hole hollow. After forming the interconnect 128, a redistribution layer (not shown) may be formed at the back side 103 of the substrate 101, and the support member 132 and adhesive material 134 can be removed from the front side 102 of the substrate 101.

Several embodiments of the methods described above for forming the interconnects 128 (FIG. 1) may provide improved package reliability and robustness as compared with conventional packaged microelectronic devices. For example, one significant problem with many conventional microelectronic devices is that thermal cycling induces stresses that can cause components to delaminate. The stresses are induced because many of the materials in a microelectronic package have different CTEs so that they do not expand and contract the same amount during thermal cycling. As such, delamination often occurs at the interfaces between various components and/or materials in the device. This in turn often leads to failure or malfunction of such devices. As discussed above, however, the insulating material 152 deposited into the second opening 150 and over the back side 103 of the substrate 101 is composed of a polymer material (e.g., a filled epoxy material) that has a CTE approximately the same as the adjacent material. In one particular embodiment, for example, the insulating material 152 can have a CTE of between about 22 and about 30 ppm/° C., and the substrate 101 (e.g., a silicon material) can have a CTE of between about 15 and about 25 ppm/° C. Accordingly, the insulating material 152 is expected to help prevent excessive warping and/or undesirable relative movement between the various components during thermal processing.

As mentioned previously, in many conventional processes for constructing interconnects, the sidewalls of the openings or through-holes formed in the substrate are lined with one or more dielectric layers before depositing a conductive fill material into the corresponding opening. The dielectric layer(s) electrically insulate components in the substrate from the interconnect that is subsequently formed in the opening. Conventional dielectric layer(s) are typically composed of a low temperature CVD material (e.g., a low temperature CVD oxide applied using a pulsed layer deposition process, tetraethylorthosilicate, Si₃N₄, SiO₂, parylene) and/or other suitable dielectric materials that can be deposited onto the walls within the opening. One significant drawback with such processes, however, is that only dielectric materials that can conformally coat the sidewalls of the opening can be used. Many of these materials, however, are extremely expensive, difficult to apply, and/or have CTEs that are significantly different than the other components of the assembly.

In contrast with conventional processes, embodiments of the methods described herein allow a wide variety of different dielectric or insulating materials to be used to electrically insulate the components in the substrate 101 from the interconnect 128. For example, any type of insulating material 152 that can flow into the annular-shaped second opening 150 can be used. The material selection is not limited to only materials that can conformally coat the sidewalls of the via 160. Accordingly, insulating materials having any of a variety of desired properties may be used when forming the interconnects 128, thereby resulting in improved processes and microelectronic packages.

FIGS. 3A-3G illustrate various stages of another embodiment of a method for forming the interconnects 128 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3A, for example, is a schematic side cross-sectional view of a portion of a workpiece 200 at an initial stage of this process, and FIG. 3B is a top view of the portion of the back side 103 of the substrate 101 shown in FIG. 3A. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B together, the first part of this method is generally similar to the steps described above with reference to FIG. 2A. In previous processing steps, for example, the support member 132 has been attached to the front side 102 of the substrate 101 with the adhesive material 134, and the substrate 101 has been thinned to a desired thickness. The stage of the method shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, however, differs from that described above in FIG. 2A in that a first mask 240 is deposited onto the back side 103 and patterned differently than the first mask 140 described above with reference to FIG. 2A. For example, the first mask 240 can be a layer of resist that is patterned and etched to form a first opening 242 aligned with each terminal 124. The first opening 242 defines an annulus 244 having an outer periphery 245 inboard of a periphery portion of the terminal 124. The annulus 244, for example, is superimposed relative to the terminal 124 and has a first diameter or cross-sectional dimension less than a second diameter or cross-sectional dimension of the terminal 124. In the illustrated embodiment, the annulus 244 has a width W₂ generally similar to the width W₁ of the annulus 147 described above with reference to FIGS. 2C and 2D. In other embodiments, however, the annulus 244 can have a different width W₂. Moreover, in this embodiment the portions of the first mask 240 at the back side 103 of the substrate 101 are typically not overbaked because they do not need to remain on the substrate 101 during a number of subsequent processing steps.

Referring next to FIG. 3C, the exposed portions of the substrate 101 within the annulus 244 (FIGS. 3A and 3B) are etched using a first etching process to form a second opening 248. The second opening 248 is generally similar to the second opening 150 described above with reference to FIG. 2E. For example, the second opening 248 is a blind hole or via having a generally annular cross-sectional profile that extends from the back side 103 of the substrate 101 to the first dielectric layer 104. The first etching process (e.g., a reactive ion etching process) selectively removes material from the substrate 101 and generally does not remove material from the first dielectric layer 104. The remaining portion of the substrate 101 within the second opening 248 defines an island 250 that is isolated from the rest of the substrate 101 by the second opening 248. After forming the second opening 248, the first mask 240 (FIG. 3A) is removed from workpiece 200.

Referring to FIG. 3D, an insulating material 252 is deposited into the second opening 248 and over the entire back side 103 of the substrate 101. The insulating material 252 can be composed of a polymer material (e.g., a filled epoxy material) generally similar to the insulating material 152 described above with reference to FIG. 2F. In other embodiments, however, the insulating material 252 can include other suitable materials.

Referring next to FIG. 3E, the overburden portion of the insulating material 252 on the back side 103 of the substrate 101 is removed to leave insulating material 252 only in the second opening 248. The overburden portion of the insulating material 252 can be removed using a chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) process, an etching process, and/or other suitable processes. In the illustrated embodiment, the back side 103 of the substrate 101 was not previously polished and, accordingly, the back side 103 can be polished during and/or after removing the overburden portion of the insulating material 252. In other embodiments, however, the back side 103 may be polished before the processing steps described above with reference to FIG. 3A. In such cases, the overburden portion of insulating material 252 may be removed from the back side 103 using an “ashing” process at least generally similar to the process described above with reference to FIG. 2D rather than a CMP or etching process.

Referring to FIG. 3F, a second dielectric layer 254 (e.g., an RDL insulating layer) is deposited over the back side 103 and patterned to form a third opening 256. The third opening 256 is sized such that a periphery portion of the second opening 256 is at least partially aligned with the insulating material 252 within the second opening 248 and an exterior surface 251 of the island 250 is completely exposed. The second dielectric layer 254 can include a photosensitive polymer material (e.g., a resist material) or another suitable material.

Referring next to FIG. 3G, a second etching process (e.g., a wet etch) is used to remove the exposed island 250 (FIG. 3F) to define a blind hole or via 260. After removing the island, a third etching process (e.g., a dry etch) is used to remove the exposed portions of the first dielectric layer 104 within the blind hole 260 and expose at least a portion of the terminal 124. After the third etching process, the workpiece 200 can undergo additional steps that are at least generally similar to those described above with reference to FIG. 2F to construct an interconnect 128 (FIG. 1).

Any one of the imaging dies formed using the methods described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3G can be incorporated into any of a myriad of larger and/or more complex systems, a representative example of which is system 400 shown schematically in FIG. 4. The system 400 can include a processor 402, a memory 404 (e.g., SRAM, DRAM, flash, and/or other memory device), input/output devices 406, and/or other subsystems or components 408. The foregoing imager devices described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3G may be included in any of the components shown in FIG. 4. The resulting system 400 can perform any of a wide variety of computing, processing, storage, sensing, imaging, and/or other functions. Accordingly, representative systems 400 include, without limitation, cameras, computers and/or other data processors, for example, desktop computers, laptop computers, Internet appliances, hand-held devices (e.g., palm-top computers, wearable computers, cellular or mobile phones, personal digital assistants, etc.), light or other radiation sensors, multiprocessor systems, processor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network computers, and minicomputers. Other representative systems 400 include servers and associated server subsystems, display devices, and/or memory devices. Components of the system 400 may be housed in a single unit or distributed over multiple, interconnected units (e.g., through a communications network). The components of the system 400 can accordingly include local and/or remote memory storage devices, and any of a wide variety of computer readable media.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments. Where the context permits, singular or plural terms may also include the plural or singular term, respectively. Moreover, unless the word “or” is expressly limited to mean only a single item exclusive from the other items in reference to a list of two or more items, then the use of “or” in such a list is to be interpreted as including (a) any single item in the list, (b) all of the items in the list, or (c) any combination of the items in the list. Additionally, the term “comprising” is used throughout to mean including at least the recited feature(s) such that any greater number of the same feature and/or additional types of other features are not precluded.

It will further be appreciated that specific embodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that the foregoing methods and systems may have other embodiments as well. For example, a variety of materials in addition to those described above can be used to form the insulating layers that electrically insulate components in the workpiece from the interconnects that extend through at least a portion of the workpiece. Moreover, one or more of the openings or holes described above can alternatively be formed using a laser in addition to, or in lieu of, an etching process. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure are not limited except as by the appended claims. 

I/We claim:
 1. A method of processing a microelectronic workpiece including a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of microelectronic dies, the individual dies including integrated circuitry and a terminal electrically coupled to the integrated circuitry, the method comprising: forming a first opening in the substrate from a back side of the substrate toward a front side of the substrate and in alignment with the terminal, the first opening having a generally annular cross-sectional profile and separating an island of substrate material from the substrate; depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening; and removing the island of substrate material after depositing the insulating material and forming a second opening aligned with at least a portion of the terminal, wherein the second opening does not extend completely through the terminal.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising constructing an electrically conductive interconnect in at least a portion of the second opening and in electrical contact with the terminal.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening comprises depositing a polymer material into the first opening.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening comprises depositing a filled epoxy material into the first opening.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening comprises depositing a polymer material having a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at least generally similar to the CTE of the substrate.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate further comprises a dielectric layer between the terminal and the front side of the substrate, and wherein: forming a first opening in the substrate comprises forming a blind hole in the substrate from the back side of the substrate to the dielectric layer; and removing the island of substrate material to form a second opening in alignment with the terminal further comprises removing at least a portion of the dielectric layer after removing the island of substrate material to expose at least a portion of the terminal.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein removing the island of substrate material comprises removing the island with a wet etching process.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening comprises: at least generally filling the first opening with the insulating material; and covering the exposed portions of the back side of the substrate with the insulating material.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a first opening in the substrate comprises: applying and patterning a first mask layer on the back side of the substrate and forming a first mask portion at least partially aligned with the terminal; etching the back side of the substrate with a first etching process; applying and patterning a second mask layer on the back side of the substrate and forming a third opening in the second mask layer, wherein the third opening is an annulus that completely surrounds the first mask portion and the corresponding portion of the substrate, and wherein an outer periphery portion of the third opening is inboard of an outer periphery portion of the corresponding terminal; and etching the back side of the substrate with a second etching process to form the first opening in the substrate from the back side of the substrate toward the front side, wherein the first opening has a cross-sectional profile at least approximately identical to the cross-sectional profile of the third opening; and removing the remaining portions of the first mask layer and the second mask layer from the substrate before depositing the insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a first opening in the substrate comprises: applying and patterning a mask layer on the back side of the substrate and forming a third opening in the mask layer, wherein the third opening is an annulus aligned with the terminal and having an outer periphery portion inboard of an outer periphery portion of the corresponding terminal; etching the back side of the substrate with a first etching process to form the first opening in the substrate from the back side of the substrate toward the front side, wherein the first opening has a cross-sectional profile at least approximately identical to the cross-sectional profile of the third opening; and removing the mask layer from the back side of the substrate before depositing the insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing an insulating material into at least a portion of the first opening comprises at least generally filling the first opening with the material and covering the entire back side of the substrate with the material, and wherein the method further comprises: removing at least approximately all the insulating material from the back side of the substrate outside the first opening; applying a photosensitive polymer material onto the back side of the substrate; and forming a fourth opening in the photosensitive polymer material before removing the island of substrate material, wherein the fourth opening has a diameter less than a diameter of the first opening, and wherein a wall of the third opening is aligned with at least a portion of the insulating material within the first opening.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: adhesively attaching the front side of the substrate to a support member; removing material from back side of the substrate to thin the substrate before forming the first opening; and removing the substrate from the support member after constructing the electrically conductive interconnect.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein: forming a first opening in the substrate comprises forming a plurality of first openings in the back side of each die and in alignment with corresponding terminals, wherein the first openings are generally circular rings surrounding a core of substrate material, and wherein the first openings do not extend through the terminals; depositing an insulating material comprises disposing a polymeric dielectric material in the first openings; and removing the island of substrate material comprises removing the cores of substrate material within the first openings after disposing the polymeric dielectric material in the first openings, wherein removing the cores of substrate material forms a plurality of blind vias in alignment with corresponding terminals.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising planarizing the back side of the dies to remove the dielectric material outside of the openings after filling the openings with the dielectric material.
 15. A method of processing a semiconductor substrate including a via site and a plug site within the via site, the method comprising: masking the plug site and a region at least partially surrounding the via site at a back side of the substrate, wherein masking includes exposing a perimeter of the via site; etching the substrate after masking and defining a plug at the plug site, wherein the plug is at least partially aligned with an electrical contact on the substrate; dispensing insulation onto the substrate and between the plug and the substrate; and removing the plug.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein masking the plug site comprises masking the plug site with a second mask, and wherein the method further comprises: masking the plug site with a first mask before masking the plug site with the second mask, wherein masking the plug site with the first mask includes exposing the region; and etching the substrate using the first mask before masking the plug site with the second mask; and wherein etching the substrate after masking the plug site with the second mask defines a plug extending higher than an elevation of the region.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein: etching the substrate after masking defines a plug having an elevation extending generally as high as an elevation of the region; dispensing insulation onto the substrate comprises dispensing insulation over the plug; and wherein the method further comprises— exposing the plug after dispensing the insulation, and dispensing another volume of insulation after exposing the plug, wherein dispensing another volume of insulation covers at least a portion of the insulation and exposes the plug.
 18. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of microelectronic imaging dies, the individual imaging dies including integrated circuitry, an image sensor electrically coupled to the integrated circuitry, and a terminal electrically coupled to the integrated circuitry, the method comprising: disposing a polymer material into a first blind opening in a back side of the substrate, wherein the first blind opening is an annulus superimposed relative to the terminal, and wherein the annulus has a first cross-sectional dimension less than a second cross-sectional dimension of the terminal; etching a core of substrate material surrounded by the polymer material within the annulus and forming a second blind opening in the back side of the substrate, wherein the second blind opening does not extend through the terminal; and forming a through-substrate interconnect in at least a portion of the second blind opening and in electrical contact with the terminal. 